COMMON LANGUAGE BENEFITS NATION

Should a company's owners have the right to ban employees from speaking Spanish or other foreign languages on the job, even in private conversations?

The answer - from lawmakers and judges alike - ought to be a firm "no."The question is so important that the U.S. Supreme Court should have confronted it instead of refusing to hear an appeal.

A lower court had backed a San Francisco meat-packing plant owner's right to impose an English-only rule on the job, after some workers complained other employees insulted them in Spanish. That court also overturned a 1970 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule banning such employer rules.

Future legal challenges are inevitable, since the debate touches so many nerves - freedom of speech, cultural identity, workplace harmony and people's ability to keep a job.

A little perspective is vital. America needs and thrives on a common language - English. Most American businesses could not function if their employees could not use it.

So employers are justified in requiring employees to be able to speak, read and write fluent English when the job demands it, and to use English when discussing business with English-speaking customers and co-workers.

Employers are also justified in disciplining employees who insult, harass or intimidate co-workers in any language.

But employers are definitely not justified in trying to regulate private conversations among bilingual employees in the workplace.

What the court failed to clarify, Congress and state lawmakers must.

Many Americans rightly welcome the chance to hear or even learn a foreign language, and thrive on cultural diversity. Others are legitimately concerned about problems in other nations caused by the lack of a common language.

A few, crippled by ignorance and prejudice, cannot stand to hear what they call a "tower of babble" and resent growing immigrant economic and political power.

English-only job rules affecting private employee conversations are an insult to immigrants and exacerbate racial and ethnic tensions. They tarnish America's - and Florida's - image as a progressive, tolerant place that needs to expand its role as an international tourist destination, business partner and home for immigrants seeking a better life.